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chapter 27 : you should've
stuck to your gut feeling

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the next day at school, seonghwa told kyunghee he would pick her up since she left her bike at the ice cream place. early in the morning, he arrived on his motorcycle, dressed handsomer than usual.

"woah, you look so good." kyunghee asked as she pointed to his clothes. "how did you know that i have a thing for guys in turtlenecks?"

seonghwa wasn't in school uniform, but clad in a blue turtleneck and black jeans. he paired it with black combat boots, a black leather jacket, and tons and tons of necklaces and piercings. his styled blonde hair was a winning point as well.

he chuckled and unexpectedly placed a kiss on her cheek. "i guess i should wear turtlenecks more often then. i'm not going to school though."

"what? why?" she frowned.

"i'm skipping with mingi and wooyoung. and no, you can't come." he chuckled.

"meanie. i'll miss you,"

he smiled as he left her driveway. the two sped off in the empty city streets, a gentle fog lying in the air. at the ice cream shop where she had left her bike, kyunghee sadly dismounted his motorcycle.

"text me, okay?" she told him. seonghwa chuckled and nodded, "fine. i will later,"

"okay, bye, seongie!"

"seongie?" he scoffed and shook his head. "fine, but i'm not calling you something weird like that. bye, babe."

seonghwa had a happy little grin on his face as he drove off down the streets. it didn't take him long to find the place where mingi and wooyoung told him to meet.

in an empty, abandoned tattoo & piercing shop, the three boys gathered together inside and sat down in the client chairs.

"guys," wooyoung sung as he tossed them a mysterious bag of drugs, meth to be exact.

mingi chuckled excitedly and grabbed the small bag, but seonghwa raised his eyebrows cautiously. he used to be the baddest of them all, but with kyunghee in mind, he didn't know if he wanted to risk anything - or risk hurting her if he didn't think clear enough.

mingi started smoking and so did wooyoung while seonghwa contemplated.

"don't be like that, seonghwa." mingi scoffed and handed him the tiny bag of crystals.

seonghwa sighed as he opened the bag. he bit his lip and said, "i hope kyunghee won't be too pissed with me."

mingi and wooyoung clapped and cheered on their older friend as gave into the dark side.

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kyunghee dragged her feet as she walked out of the school campus and to the parking lot alone. seonghwa never bothered to text or call, and that worried her.

one of their friends, san, was already in the lot, getting on his motorcycle. "wait! san!"

he turned to the girl, sighing, "what?"

"where's seonghwa?" kyunghee asked and frowned a little.

"oh.. i think he's with mingi and wooyoung like doing illegal shit. i don't know, don't ask me." san shrugged. kyunghee didn't know what she was feeling, but all she knew is that she couldn't do much about it.

"by the way," san added as he glanced at kyunghee. "i wouldn't look for him if i were you."

"thanks anyway," she nodded and mounted her bike to do the exact opposite of what san just advised her. she turned out of the lot on her pink bike. san sighed, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"how does a girl like her fall in love with seonghwa?"

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kyunghee rode her bike around seoul, following her phone. it was overboard, yes, but she tracked seonghwa's last known location and went straight for it.

she didn't know why he'd be at a tattoo and piercing shop; maybe he would surprise her with something new. a smile grew on her face anyway.

kyunghee's little grin disappeared as she parked her bike at the shop. she locked it on a bike rack nearby and walked over. luckily, their motorcycles were still there.

she walked through the front door, looking around frantically as she heard chuckles. a light flickered in the back of the shop, and she ducked behind the front desk.

kyunghee didn't want to annoy seonghwa since he told her not to follow him, but she wanted to know what he was doing. at least he's safe, she noted.

"so, seonghwa," wooyoung asked. "when are you and kyungha gonna start dating? she's—"

violent rustling and grunting was suddenly heard. kyunghee started to sweat. seonghwa had grabbed wooyoung by his shirt collar and slammed him into the wall, clearly not thinking lucidly since he was high.

seonghwa slurred, "it's kyunghee, asshole, and she is my girlfriend already."

"ooh, fiesty" mingi scoffed as he tossed a half empty water bottle at seonghwa. "but let him go."

"fine." seonghwa scoffed. "don't talk about her, though. you two make me mad."

"why, seongie? is it kicking in?" mingi asked and started laughing hysterically.

"hey, i'll beat your ass too." seonghwa sighed. "and shut up, i only let her call me that because she's too cute to say no to."

kyunghee's cheeks burned like oven tops as she covered her mouth. she gushed to herself, relishing in the fact that seonghwa thinks she's cute.

"you've gone soft, leader." wooyoung sighed, feeling disheartened. he used up the last of the meth. "ah, we should get going. don't cops do a look out at night?"

"yeah, let's get out of here. make sure to lock it up, woo." seonghwa pat the younger on his shoulder as they began leaving.

"yeah, i got it."

kyunghee panicked and hid herself deeper underneath the desk, holding her breath. it reminded her of the time she hid with seonghwa from the cops. funny how the tables turned.

wooyoung was the last to leave. a series of metal banging and clanging was heard on the door. at this point, kyunghee was shaking. it went quiet again and kyunghee decided to peek her head around to see what happened.

out the window of the shop, she watched seonghwa, mingi, and wooyoung drive away on their motorbikes. and on the door of the abandoned shop was a mound of chains, all locking the store so nobody could enter....

nor exit.

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